STATE DEPARTMENT CLIMATE REPORT TO UN TOUTS U.S. ACHIEVEMENTS: The State Department today will release its 2014 Climate Action Report, along with a new biennial report, as part of an agreement with the UN. The report outlines what the U.S. is doing to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent of 2005 levels by the end of this decade, including the actions ordered by President Barack Obama in June, according to information from a fact sheet previewed by ME. The report will tout Obama's first-term achievements, including new vehicle fuel economy standards and boosts for renewable energy sources, and notes the U.S. will take further action via regulations to cut emissions from the power sector, more support for energy efficiency and clean energy, and a push to reduce methane and HFC emissions.

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SPEAKING OF THE UN: Set your alarm clocks: Tomorrow at 4 a.m. EST, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which has been meeting all week in Stockholm, will release the first part of its fifth annual assessment. Further parts of the report will be released over the coming year. If that's too early in the morning for you, the Climate Group, the United Nations Foundation, and the New York Academy of Science will host an online video briefing at 8:30 a.m. EST. Details: http://bit.ly/1fnYkum.

RUMORS SWIRL — BINZ MAY DROP OUT, ENR MIGHT SCHEDULE VOTE: The Ron Binz rumor mill has been churning on overdrive for the last 24 hours. The short version: the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee had tentatively scheduled a vote on Binz’s nomination for Oct. 3. If the committee wants to go ahead with that date, a notice would likely come out today.

BUT: Given Sen. Joe Manchin’s no vote and the opposition of every Republican on the panel, Binz or the White House might see the writing on the wall and opt to withdraw the nomination altogether rather than face a tie vote in committee, sinking the nomination anyway. When ME asked FERC spokeswoman Mary O’Driscoll yesterday whether Binz’s nomination had been pulled, she said, “It is not true.” But each day is different. And Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid could also try to push Binz through the chamber regardless of how the committee votes.

Cassidy pressures Landrieu on Binz: Rep. Bill Cassidy and three other members of the Louisiana delegation decided to use Binz to put Sen. Mary Landrieu on the spot yesterday and asking her to “withhold” support for him. Although the letter is also addressed to Sen. David Vitter (who later put out his own statement urging Landrieu to vote no), Cassidy is clearly targeting his 2014 senatorial opponent with a FERC nominee — a new concept as far as ME is concerned. GOP Reps. Steve Scalise, Rodney Alexander and John Fleming also signed the letter: http://politico.pro/15UC2uj

WYDEN LOOKINJG FOR PLAN B ON SHAHEEN-PORTMAN: Senate Energy and Natural Resources Chairman Ron Wyden said he is considering alternative paths for stalled bipartisan energy-efficiency legislation — including introducing a new bill. Wyden said there was still a chance for the legislation to move forward in the Senate after its progress was stalled. Darren Goode lays out the possibilities: http://politico.pro/1bcW33g.

STEYER DEFENDS McAULIFFE’S GREEN CRED: Billionaire activist Tom Steyer admits that Terry McAuliffe is no Sen. Ed Markey when it comes to championing energy and environmental issues. But he says the Virginia Democrat has a strong green record that justifies putting big money into his campaign for governor. Steyer acknowledges that the political reality in Virginia is vastly different than in Massachusetts, where he orchestrated an outside spending campaign focused on climate and the Keystone XL pipeline to support Markey earlier this year. Andrew Restuccia has more: http://politi.co/16AvmNv.

But wait, there’s more: Steyer’s NextGen Action Committee has a new ad out starting today hitting Cuccinelli over legal advice Cuccinelli's office gave to two energy companies, one of which is a subsidiary of Consol Energy, a major donor to the attorney general (here’s the AP story referenced in the ad: http://politico.pro/15uVYWm). The ad buy runs through Oct. 6 across the state, with 15-second localized versions in Roanoke, Richmond and Norfolk bookending commercial breaks. Watch: http://youtu.be/BXqhtpNoUZ8.

** A recent study shows America’s oil & natural gas companies are top investors in zero- and low-greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions technologies. Between 2000 and 2012, the industry invested $81 billion in GHG mitigation; that’s more than the federal government and nearly as much as all other industries combined. On Twitter @ EnergyTomorrow or http://bit.ly/1aZK7BV **

Debate watch: McAuliffe briefly brought up the Consol issue at last night’s debate, but otherwise there was no substantive talk on energy issues. ICYMI: http://cs.pn/19AFbOq.

Speaking of Consol: The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a suit against the company "over a worker who believed biometric hand scans violated his Christian beliefs," the AP writes: http://bit.ly/1fFQMRn.

W.H TO NOMINATE KORNZE TO HEAD BLM — SOURCES: President Barack Obama will nominate Neil Kornze to lead the Bureau of Land Management, two sources outside the administration tell POLITICO. Kornze — currently the agency’s principal deputy director — has been heading up BLM since acting Director Mike Pool left in March. BLM has been without a permanent head since Bob Abbey stepped down in May 2012. From 2003 until he joined BLM in 2011, Kornze was a policy adviser to Harry Reid.

HOUSE GOP PLANS ENERGY ADDS TO DEBT CEILING: House Republicans plan to use their upcoming debt-ceiling proposal to refight old battles about the Keystone XL pipeline, domestic drilling and EPA’s regulations on coal ash and climate change. Republicans are still deciding which language to use to authorize Keystone XL, although a safe bet would be a version from Rep. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) that they passed in the House this year. Darren Goode tells you what to look for: http://politico.pro/1eIkxlC.

KXL ON DEBT CEILING BILL PICKS UP OPPOSITION: With House Democrats urging a clean extension of the debt ceiling ( http://politi.co/1bcRia6), the NRDC is also slamming the GOP’s plan, calling it “an irresponsible and reckless move.” Meanwhile, two Democrats who support the pipeline, Sens. Max Baucus, Mark Begich and Joe Manchin, say they also want the project left off the debt ceiling legislation, Bloomberg writes: http://bloom.bg/1eFKanc.

The long game: House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton unveiled a draft bipartisan bill Wednesday to speed up approval of energy infrastructure projects that — like the Keystone XL pipeline — cross U.S. borders. The bill would effectively do away with presidential permits for those projects and require decisions on the projects to be made no later than 120 days after the applications are received. The permit reviews now don’t have any limit. Darren Goode: http://politico.pro/1h2C1pD.

REPUBLICANS, RAHALL TO BASH EPA EMISSIONS RULE: A group of House and Senate Republicans and Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) are holding a press conference on the Hill this morning to sound off on EPA’s newly proposed emissions rule for future power plants — an unpopular move among that crowd, to put it lightly. Among the attendees: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sen. Rand Paul, and Reps. Ed Whitfield, Hal Rogers, Joe Barton, Shelley Moore Capito, Steve Scalise and Cory Gardner. Today’s event offers Rahall, whom Republicans have criticized on the issue, an opportunity to visibly side with the GOP.

ME FIRST — RULE GOOD FOR COAL, CAP SAYS: EPA’s rule for future power plants will actually help coal in the long run because it will force the industry to work on making carbon capture and storage economically viable, write Dan Weiss of the Center for American Progress and Bob Sussman, who left EPA as a senior policy counsel to the administrator in July. “The EPA’s proposed carbon-pollution rule for future power plants is precisely the signal necessary to develop a market for CCS technology, which could maintain coal as part of the future electricity-generation mix,” they write: http://bit.ly/1913bZ7.

CALIFORNIA CLEAN TECH INVESTMENTS SHIFTING FROM R&D TO DEPLOYMENT — REPORT: Clean tech investments in California over the past ten years have shifted from roughly half of more of annual investment going toward R&D to the majority of clean tech investments now going toward deployment — a shift indicating a maturing market, according to a report out today from Next 10, a nonpartisan group that focuses on California issues. “While this early stage capital is still critical for new companies and technologies, financing allocated to deployment is increasingly important to the expansion of the sector, such as funding to develop new utility scale solar or wind projects,” the report says. Read: http://bit.ly/190pdLi.

— North Carolina has turned down EPA grants totaling over half a million dollars to study potential effects of fracking on streams and wetlands and for wetlands monitoring. Charlotte Observer: http://bit.ly/16rvqWM.

— Seventy-four lawmakers want the Forest Service to move away from old-growth logging in the Tongass National Forest. Letter: http://bit.ly/1fEnRNp.

THAT’S ALL FOR ME. [Insert obligatory Star Wars joke here]

** A recent study shows America’s oil & natural gas companies are top investors in zero- and low-greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions technologies. Between 2000 and 2012, the industry invested $81 billion in GHG mitigation; that’s more than the federal government and nearly as much as all other industries combined. What's more, the oil & natural gas industry has invested $11 billion in domestic wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and other non-hydrocarbon resources between 2011 and 2012 — one out of every six dollars invested. These investments in non-hydrocarbon energy sources and pioneering GHG mitigation technologies not only lower carbon emissions, but create high-tech jobs and advance America's global competitiveness. Taken as a whole, these and other investments have allowed the industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by the equivalent of 53.6 million metric tons of CO2 — equal to taking 10.8 million cars off the road. On Twitter @ EnergyTomorrow or http://bit.ly/1aZK7BV **

** A message from Vet Voice Foundation: Tens of thousands of service members and veterans rely on public lands to hunt, fish, camp and heal from the wounds of war. These lands are part of the American heritage we fought for. As a new President and Congress look to rebuild America's infrastructure, we call on them to make an equal investment in maintaining our public lands and parks for our service members and all Americans. Support for our veterans must extend to investing in and protecting America’s natural heritage, for our children and grandchildren. www.VetVoiceFoundation.org **

Authors:

About The Author

Alex Guillén is an energy reporter for POLITICO Pro, where he covers EPA, regulations and coal, as well as lobbying and campaign finance in the energy realm. He previously wrote the Morning Energy newsletter. He graduated from the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va., with a degree in anthropology and English. He is an avid reader and TV binger. The Delawarean, thrilled that there are finally Capriotti’s outposts in Washington, lives in Alexandria, Va.